This is the best kind of first date, according to Aziz Ansari

Ansari's character Dev takes his date to Nashville in the Netflix series, 'Master of None.' Netflix/YouTube Screenshot

On Valentine's Day, you might consider taking your sweetie to a fancy restaurant or a movie.

Wrong. These are actually "boring-ass dates" and should be avoided at all costs, says comedian Aziz Ansari in his new book, "Modern Romance."

You should instead take your date somewhere enthralling, because an interesting date helps you see what it's really like to be with a person.

Ansari calls this his "Monster Truck Rally theory."

For the book, Ansari worked with sociologist Eric Klinenberg to explore how we date in the digital age. They talked with hundreds of single people across the world, asking how they connect with romantic partners. Ansari and Klinenberg discovered the entire culture of finding love has evolved dramatically, fueled in part by the explosion in online dating.

But some things about how we date have also stayed the same. Most of us still take our boos to designated-date-places like coffee shops or bars, lowering our chances of developing a connection with someone who excites us.

In Ansari and Klinenberg's research, they found the most successful dates weren't simple résumé exchanges over a drink or dinner.

"They were situations in which people could experience interesting things together and learn what it was like to be with someone new," Ansari writes.

Ansari also consulted Reddit and asked people to tell him about their best first dates. One man wrote about how he took a woman to an alpaca farm (they were both 18 at the time).

"After sweet-talking the farm owner, he let us walk into barn where all the lil guys overcame their initial trepidation and then surrounded us in the most adorable way possible," the Reddit user writes. "After nuzzling with them for an hour we went to Taco Bell. I burned myself horribly on an apple empanada, but it got her to laugh so I'll chalk that one up as a win."

Interesting dates like these can lead to more romantic success down the line. Ansari quotes a study of 60 couples by psychologist Arthur Aron. Some of the couples participated in activities that were novel (e.g. hiking and skiing); others participate in activities that were mundane (e.g. a dinner and movie); and the control group did nothing at all. The couples that did the interesting activities showed a significant hike in relationship satisfaction.

"Don't just stare at each other across the table while sipping a beverage and making the same small talk you've made a thousand times about siblings, hometowns, and where you went to college," Ansari writes. "A person may seem just okay, but if you really invest time in the relationship, maybe they'll be greater than you assume."